Aztecs #21 Jamaal Franklin goes up for the unneeded rebound after another Aztec scored in the 1st period.
— Nelvin C. Cepeda / U-T SAN DIEGO

The best basketball team in California has been to as many Elite Eights as Juilliard. It has had two NBA players drafted in the past 20 years, and managed to miss 19 of 33 free throws in its season opener.

And the best basketball team in California is not one that can recruit on name alone. That said, it sure is busy trying to make one for itself.

As far as college hoops is concerned, it is not a golden age in the Golden State. But as it stands, San Diego State sits atop Mt. Whitney looking down on all other programs.

The Aztecs, who vanquished USC at Galen Center Sunday, are the only Cali team ranked in the AP top 25. And if you’re contending that UCLA is superior, well, that’s just California dreamin.’

No doubt that the Bruins are the most talented team between Eureka and Imperial Beach. They had the No. 1 recruiting class in the country last spring, and NBA teams are ogling freshman Shabazz Muhammad like men watching a Carl’s Jr. commercial.

But falling to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo at Pauley Pavilion Sunday was not simply the result of an off night. Right now, UCLA is about as simpatico as a household on “The Real World.”

Don’t, however, think that such a ghastly loss will benefit SDSU when it meets the Bruins in the Wooden Classic at Honda Center Saturday. When ultra-stacked teams get mad, the match-ups generally aren’t very even.

The Bruins will be focused, furious, and ferocious when they take the floor. They shouldn’t however, be favored.

When the Aztecs knocked off USC, they won their 25th consecutive game against a California school and 10th straight vs. a current Pac-12 member. That’s not a “hot streak” so much as it is ownership of a state and its coast’s signature conference.

California’s 15 national men’s basketball championships are more than any of its 49 counterparts. And on this date in late November, the Aztecs (No. 23 in AP and No. 21 in USA Today) are the state’s top representative.

It sure is a long way from the 5-23 season SDSU endured when Steve Fisher took over the program in 1999, but this is nothing new. We’ve seen the Aztecs climb to as high as No. 4 in the national polls when Kawhi Leonard starred in Viejas Arena just two seasons ago.

But a win over UCLA Saturday would represent more than San Diego State leaving its footprint as an elite California program. It would confirm that the shoe making that footprint has crushed the rest of the state with its sole.

At this point, the Aztecs have offered no more than a trailer as to how their season may turn out. The victory at USC was impressive but not unexpected, the three wins vs. Missouri State, Arkansas-Pine Bluff and San Diego Christian routine, and the loss to Syracuse on the Midway an element-induced disaster.

Regardless, they’ll be the ones wearing the California championship belt while riding into Anaheim this weekend, and until someone proves otherwise, shouldn’t be viewed any differently.